San Francisco Web Designers
Have you ever been to Disneyland as a kid? That is exactly what SF is like for designers. Tons of new opportunities, startups, corporations, and technology. I have lived near the SF Bay Area for most of my life, and I can honestly say, there is no place like it on earth. It has beauty and all of the technology a computer geek such as myself could want.
Blackstripe is always looking for design and code talent in or around the San Francisco area. If you have what it takes to design, get in touch with us!
Importance of Design
What should be understood is that we live in a world where media and advertising drives sales. In order to present a business well, and in order to increase sales, your visual design should be well thought out in order to drive the most amount of success to your company.
I listen closely to clients on a daily basis, from startups to large corporations. What I tend to hear is that the client is not only interested in something beautiful, but something that performs well and sells a product or service. At Blackstripe, we pay close attention to this and try to incorporate beauty with function. This means that we always do a study on the clients website and their largest competitors in order to seek a clear advantage over competing businesses. Why do we do this? We want our clients to succeed, and we want our clients to present themselves better than any other business. This is the job of the graphic or visual designer.
Ultimately, the importance of design lies in the perception of your company. If your potential clients or customers view your business as professional, appealing, and more easily understood, you have the clear advantage over your competitors. You will likely be able to retain more business from your visual design investment.
Jason East
President
Black Stripe Design, LLC
Portfolio Tips for College Students
At least twice a month I receive an email from students seeking either a position or internship. I know that generally students graduating are seeking big brands to design for, and of course they should. A portfolio of design from major brands shows a few things to potential employers:
- You are ready to have your work displayed to potentially thousands (if not millions) of people.
- These major businesses trust their brand with you as a designer, which is important.
- A portfolio with major brands shows that you have worked hard enough to design at a level that is worthy of designing for these brands.
It is often difficult for new designers to get their foot in the door. I have a few tips for those interested in trying to gain a strong portfolio.
- Do a few projects for free. While I was in college, I went to a local animal shelter and asked if I could donate some time to design anything for them. They loved the idea, and I created a beautiful poster for them. They were impressed, and I gained a valuable portfolio piece.
- Another thing that you can do is design a few pieces as concepts for major brands, so that you can show what you can do to a potential employer. Make sure that you are clear that the design pieces are only concept and not something that you were paid to do. A good Art Director will love to see what you could potentially do, and they also can get a sense of your design style and skill by creating these concepts.
- Another way to gain portfolio pieces is to do self-promotion pieces. This may be your own website, or a few websites that you have designed for yourself. You could also create something for your portfolio site, such as a set of desktop backgrounds.
It is a lot of work to gain a strong portfolio, but with a lot of effort and determination you will slowly start to see your portfolio grow.
Jason East
President
Black Stripe Design, LLC
Steve Jobs
I thought I would take a few minutes to write about the passing of Steve Jobs.
A few days ago, I went to Apple.com and was ready to take a look at any new great products. Instead, I saw the memorial post regarding Steve’s passing. Even though this was kind of expected, I was shocked. For some reason this effected me, and I felt shaken up a bit. A true icon in this informational and technological age, was gone. Poof! Just like that. My wife was tending to our 8 month old baby, and came into our bedroom, and the first thing I said was “Steve Jobs passed.” My wife had a shocked expression as well, and we both kind of just looked at each other in disbelief. It was a sad evening.
I began my career in the graphic design industry over 14 years ago, with a Mac. At the time, Apple didn’t have Steve Jobs and was on the verge of going bankrupt. Generally, designers at the time used Macs, although professors in college would continue to say things such as “We love our Macs as designers, but don’t expect them to stay around long. You might want to consider a PC in the future.” Amazingly, I saw the complete transformation of Apple when they brought Steve Jobs back at Apple. The company came out with the multi-colored iMacs, the g3 (Which I purchased immediately), and eventually the iPod and iPads that we see today. What Steve Jobs did was bring his ideas to Apple and made it flourish. In so many ways he was not only an inventor, but a designer. We can thank Steve Jobs for saving Apple, influencing a huge amount of technology that we have today, and changing the music industry distribution process in a positive way.
Steve was an amazing figure in our current generation, we were lucky to have him while we did. Blackstripe offers a huge thanks to Steve for all of his creativity, technology, and design.
Jason East
President
Black Stripe Design, LLC
